the pattern of narrative in islamic historiography representation of al- amin, the abbasid caliph, in dīnawarī’s al-akhbâr al-tiwâl

in historical sources and studies, among abbasid caliphs, al-amin (april 787 – 24/25 september 813) characterized as a caliph with moral vices. this negative picture emerged from the accounts of muslims historiographical texts, such as al-akhbâr al-tiwâl, in first centuries of islam and the contemporary historical studies about abbasid caliphate, based on that accounts, accept it as his real, historical picture, too. using critical-interpretative approaches to criticizing the texts, however, it could be found that, due to the special features of the event, dīnawarī has used the form of ‘narrative-telling’ to represent al-amin’s personality and the events which led to his murder. utilizing the educational features of narration and the historical lessons of islamic culture, he tried to prove an interpretation of the problem of determinism and free will philosophy and its relation to islamic truths based on mo’tazelian theology. it seems that the very theological assumptions and choosing the narrative-telling form have made these events to be represented as ‘metaphorical realities’.